ONE, NO LONGER A LONELY NUMBER

I'm a confirmed, happily single woman. I can't say I'll never remarry, but I've been divorced for 19 years and plan to stay that way. I've had numerous relationships with men, some of them actually good, that ended because of distance or mutual agreement on both our parts. I've received my share of marriage proposals but never been tempted.

The reason I bring all this up is because for a long time all the books and articles you saw written for or about women were romances. Everyone always got married and lived happily ever after. That's changed. For instance, this article from MSN Women. Here is a taste of it...

"Yet the advantages of unmarried life seem perfectly obvious to me: I never have to do anything to accommodate the "other." I cook dinner if and when I feel like eating it, and only if I'm in the mood to cook. I stretch out all over my queen-sized bed. If I wake up in a good mood, I don't have to contend with someone who wakes up in a bad one -- and vice versa. It's nobody's business but mine if I spend too much money on clothes or makeup. I don't have to put up with anybodies boring friends or annoying relatives, or listen to the football game blaring from the den. If I decide I'd like to vacation in Mexico, I just do it. I could go on for pages without exhausting the list of petty annoyances inherent in a good marriage, without even beginning to address the miseries of a bad one."

Third Age has personal ads for travel companions, where you can specify if you want to share with someone of same or opposite sex, for people who want to go see the world but not alone. You can find a roomie or a Romeo!! The first time I ever flew or went anywhere alone, I went to Hawaii for a week and had a blast. Traveling alone has become my favorite way to travel. I can do and go and act the way I want.

It's nice that now-a-days you don't have to be part of a couple to be considered whole. Several of my friends still have problems with going out alone, but I'm working on them. At least we no longer have to put up with being called "spinster" or "old maid". When dining alone the waiter USUALLY doesn't stick us at the undesirable table next to the kitchen. We can walk unescorted into a bar without some guy wondering aloud "how much" we charge.

In the immortal words of Loretta Lynn, "WE'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY"!!